Front wheel drive



pr 10, 1951 1 R ENOS 2,548,356

FRONT WHEEL DRIVE Filed Oct. 25, 1946 4 2 Sheets-Sheet l Attorneys pril l0, 1951 J. R. ENOS 2,548,355

FRONT WHEEL DRIVE Filed oct. 25, 194e 2 sheets-sheet z y Attorneys Patented pr. 10, 1951 UNITE-n STATE-'sis PATENT. OFFICE-.fi

- f- FRONTWHEELYDRNE?! Julian R. Enos, San'l'zuisflbispo; Calif; gY`l ,Application october 25, 1946,*sel1a11Na: f'romsifl tion with marineicraft;

Tle principal objectpf the"v present" invention is. to provide' a front wheel' drive andsteering'mechanism, the steeringamechanism"being so con- 1 claim... y(cl. 18e-713)..:

v equipped witha bevel structed` and arranged as to'permit sharp turning f of the frontwwheels, which is especially desirable when parking in'lirite'd parking spaces.'

Another important object of the invention is to provide a front wheel drive, certain portions of which are inter-related with a special steering mechanism whereby the front wheels can be turned in. the usual steering operation without affecting power delivery thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combined front wheel drive and steering mechanism wherein moving parts and bearings are minimized and wherein other details are simpliied, to not only reduce the cost of manufacture, but also the susceptibility to the ready development of defects.

These and other important objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to the reader of the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan View showing the front wheel drive and in broken lines showing the extent to which the front steerable wheels can be turned.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the front wheel drive and steering mechanism.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view through the front wheel drive and steering mechanism.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, reference characters A, B denote the front steerable wheels of an automobile or other motor powered vehicle and each has an axle shaft 5 extending inwardly and through a bearing 6 of a sectional housing 1. Each stub shaft 5 has a bevel pinion 1 at its inner end and located within the corresponding housing 1', where it meshes with a bevel gear 8 on a corresponding vertical shaft 9, the lower end of the shaft being journaled through a bearing I0 in the bottom of the housing 1 and downwardly through the top end portion of an elongated shaft housing II, which extends from one wheel A to the other wheel B.

Extending longitudinally in the shaft housing II is a shaft I2, which at its mid point is responding lvertical shaftlS. 1

the elongated housing I I is a bracket 20 which has an inwardly curved arm 2| at its upper end for supporting a housing 22 having an inclined top. A shaft 23 is located in vertical spaced parallel relation with respect to the housing II and has a gear 24 at a medial point with which a worm 25 on a shaft 26 meshes, this shaft 26 being connected with the usual steering wheel of the particular vehicle. (Not shown.)

The opposite ends of the shaft 23 are journaled through bearings on the housing 22 and project into the said housings where they are provided with bevel pinions 21 meshing with bevel pinions 28.

As can be seen in Figures 3 and 4, the gears 28 have stub shafts 28a recessed as at 28D to receive the upper ends of the vertical shafts 9. These stub shafts 29 are fianged and secured by bolts or rivets 30 to the top of the corresponding rotatable housing 1.

In the operation of this mechanism, it can be seen that when power is being delivered by the drive shaft I5, the pinion I4 turns the gear I3 and the shaft in turn operates the gears I8, I9, with the result that the vertical shafts 9 are rotated and this motion is imparted to the corresponding wheels A, B by the gears 8, 1, which are located within the corresponding steering housing.

With the vehicle moving, as when parking, the wheels A, B can be steered and actually turned 180, as shown in Figure 1 in broken lines.

This is accomplished by the usual steering y As the gears 28 rotate, the housings 1' are likefgearlf. I3v meshingzmithv a bevel'pinion I 4 on a drive shaft1.5;the"dri-ve shaftfr. l5 being `disposed A--thrcugh a bearing I Ea' at'- then: rear sideof an enlargement. I1; of saidqhousin'gf' ...I I. Thus `the?shaftlI 2-is ndrivenfiby the motiv-ew power of f the 'particular4 vehicle and' each. rendi r of the"shaftl2 hasa' bevel-pinion I8 formeshtf.l with` aV bevel gearr I 9 on-theiilower endof the cor-r Rising from a point?inwardlyA iof'feach end"y of invention, what is for vehicles comprising a pair of wheels, an elongated housing interposed between the wheels, a drive shaft extending into a medial part of the housing, a shaft extending longitudinally in the housing and provided with a gear connection between the same and the drive shaft, upstanding rigid yokes on the ends of the housing, countershafts rising from the ends of the housing, meshing gears between the ends of the first mentioned shaft and the lower ends of the countershafts, a gear box mounted on the upper portion of each yoke, a gear housing disposed Within each yoke and through which the corresponding countershaft is disposed, a stub shaft rotatably mounted within the upper portion of each yoke and provided with a gear at its upper end, the lower end of each stub shaft being recessed to receive the upper free end of the corresponding countershaft, said stub shafts being positively secured to the upper portions of the gear housings, said yokes being of hollow construction, each of the wheels being provided with an axle projecting into the corresponding gear housing and provided with a gear, a gear on each of the countershafts, within the corresponding gear housing and meshing with the gear of the corresponding axle, said gear housings being freely rotatable on the counter-shafts, a steering shaft, means for rotating the steering shaft. the ends of the steering shaft projecting into the gear boxes and the ends thereof provided with gears meshing with the gears at the upper ends of the stub shafts.

' JULIAN R. ENOS.

n REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name 1,008,376 Siders et al. Nov. 14, 1911 1,102,636 Barnes July 7, 1914 1,420,387 Schaefer June 20, 1922 2,376,419 Cole T May 22, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 709,375 France May 18, 1931 

